“Why?”
“We’re dealing with two experienced and very tricky con men, and I’m worried about being thin on the ground.”
“Why can’t the NYPD furnish the chopper?”
“The demand for their air fleet is heavy; yours is lighter.”
“Should I speak to the commissioner about this?”
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Stone replied. “All I want is to be able to make a cell phone call and get something in the air instantly.”
“You worry too much.”
“I think it’s best to worry too much before the bust than afterward.”
“Oh, all right, I’ll make the call, but you owe me for this one.”
“Yes, I owe you.”
Tiffany hung up without saying good-bye.
“That’s interesting,” Mitzi said.
“Asking for a helicopter?”
“Yes, that, too, but more that Tiffany is calling you.”
“You know we have some history.”
“Everybody who reads ‘Page Six’ in the Post knows you have some history.”
“That was speculation; I didn’t appear in the photographs, and they couldn’t prove that the woman was Tiffany.”
“Sorry, I should have Mirandized you before I asked about that. But why is Tiffany calling you?”
“She wants to have dinner.”
“She wants a second chance to become infamous?”
“That’s an interesting way to put it,” Stone said. “I never considered that dining with me carried the risk of infamy.”
“I shouldn’t think it would do either of you any good. It’s obviously a toxic relationship.”
“Mitzi, you don’t have to talk me out of it; I don’t want to have dinner with her.”
“Well, you did put her off, didn’t you?”
“I thought it best.”
“I’m glad,” she said, leaning over and kissing him on the forehead.
Stone rolled his eyes upward. “Do I have lipstick on my forehead now?”
“It’s very becoming,” Mitzi said, patting his cheek.
Stone resisted the urge to wipe it off with his napkin.
Mitzi put down her napkin and stood up. “Well, I have to go to work.”